Bedtime Blues

Almost a year home now and I can officially say bedtime just stinks. If its not one kid *ahem Chloe*, it's another. There is always one more thing that the kids need to tell me, an animal that's 'starving' (that they never voluntarily feed until bedtime), a heart to heart they just need to have ("ummm.... uhhh... i forgot"), or the more obvious bathroom break. Bedtime with four kids is always an adventure.

Chloe has struggled with sleep since we got home. Because Sean works early mornings (anywhere from 1-5 a.m.), Chloe is all mine at bedtime. She takes upwards of 2 hours to go to sleep, and wakes anywhere from two to six times a night. Thankfully, we are moving past the middle of the night wake up calls, but we are still struggling with a decent time frame to fall asleep. I've tried melatonin with mixed results. At first, she seemed to fall asleep quicker, but then it guaranteed at least three wake-ups and a sopping pull up in the morning. We laid off the melatonin and went back to two hour bedtime. This allowed a mostly full night rest, but the price of laying in her room for two hours wears thin quickly.

The last month or so I have been slowly working my way out of her reach so that she self soothes. With our three other kids we never felt bad about allowing them time to self soothe, the end result being that they are great sleepers. However, many experts will tell you that bedtime is a crucial time for bonding and attachment in adoption. I alternate between feeling guilty for not comforting her, and thankful that she is learning to be more self reliant. I have also brought back the melatonin, which so far is letting me escape in under an hour. We've even managed to ditch the pull-ups at bedtime! So there is progress, I am just looking forward to the days when a full nights sleep is less of a luxury and waking children is my new struggle.

Blissful sleep! Why must it be so elusive?!